Boys Hockey: Sloppy first costs Gorham, Scarborough prevails

GORHAM—Gorham couldn’t quite get it done vs. visiting Scarborough on Wednesday night, Dec. 20. The Rams posted a flurry of goals at the start of the second – and even seized the lead on Tyler Weeks’s contribution – but the Storm surged back soon enough, retaking control on a Luke Levesque penalty shot and ultimately clinching a 4-3 triumph.

The opening period belonged to Scarborough, who notched two goals during the stretch. Less than three minutes in, Patrick Clonan tallied the first (assisted by Wyatt Plummer) on a powerplay; nine minutes later, Ethan Jasa put up the second (unassisted) on another man-advantage.

Clearly, Gorham’s inability to keep clear of the sin bin hurt them through those uphill 15 minutes. The team logged four penalties all told: Dom Lorello pulled two minutes for tripping, Alex O’Connor two minutes for elbowing, Holden Edwards two minutes for cross-checking and Peter Richards five minutes for boarding.

“Extremely disappointed with the first period,” Gorham head Jon Portwine said of his boys’ mass of infractions at to begin the contest. “It’s not part of our gameplan, it’s not what we set out to do. The guys know how to play the game. The major, I didn’t see…the other penalties, we shouldn’t have taken them. Open-ice hits, hits to the head. There’s no place in the game for it, and it’s certainly not what we’re teaching.”

Gorham charged onto the ice (evidently) refocused to start the middle period, scoring thrice inside nine minutes to jump out front. Edwards ignited the push, punching one home barely a minute and a half in. Cole Perreault struck next, besting Scarborough keeper Brandon Wasser with a sharp redirect in close. Finally, Weeks converted on a Trevor Gray feed with 6:35 to play before the break.

“I wouldn’t want you to quote me on anything I said in the locker room between the first and second periods,” Portwine said ominously. “But I was not happy. We didn’t make any systems adjustments or play adjustments; it was just a wake-up call. They needed it, they seemed to respond to it.”

But the Storm had no intentions of checking out early, and balanced the scoreboard again at 2:07. Plummer did the honors, assisted by both Clonan and Jacob Brown. Then, with a mere 37 seconds to play before the break, Levesque nearly – nearly, but not quite – escaped the pack for a breakaway confrontation with Rams netminder Garett Babineau. Instead, a Rams defender, hot on Levesque’s heels, dove, and threw his stick. The play disrupted Levesque’s advance, sure. It was also illegal.

Levesque lined up for a penalty shot, crunched away from center ice, and picked up steam toward Babineau. He shot backhand, top-shelf, left side – and scored. Scarborough were back on top, 4-3.

The third period unfolded tautly: The teams played each other hard, but neither could score again. In the end, then, the Storm emerged victorious. 4-3.

Gorham slipped to 0-4 on the loss. The Rams hosted a holiday tournament in the days following Christmas. Their next countable game is currently slated for Jan. 6, when they host Gardiner.

Scarborough, meanwhile, advanced to 2-2 on the win. The Storm travel to South Portland/Freeport/Waynflete on Thursday the 28th.

Adam Birt can be reached at abirt@keepmecurrent.com. Follow him on Twitter @CurrentSportsME.